At first glance, there’s a lot to like about the thin Asus UL80J-BBK5. A 14-inch screen, Core i3 processor, Nvidia Optimus graphics switching, and a DVD burner suggest a complete package in one of the thinner mainstream laptops we’ve seen, all for $799. There are, unfortunately, some big drawbacks. That Core i3...

Since the start of the Intel Atom era, we’ve longed for one thing: a dual-core version of that otherwise impressive power-saving CPU. Standard single-core Atom Netbooks are fine for basic tasks, but even when just Web surfing or typing they can be bogged down by bouts of seemingly random sluggishness. The Asus...

Thin, stylish, and a change from the company’s previous designs, the silvery Gateway ID49C series has a slim form factor paired with an optical drive and Core i3/i5 processors. When last we reviewed Gateway’s new thin laptop, it was in the form of the budget-price $629 ID49C07U in our 2010 retail laptop...

There’s been plenty of buzz for the high-concept Toshiba Libretto W100 series since it was first announced in June 2010. This dual-touch-screen minilaptop is a limited-release showpiece designed by Toshiba to celebrate the company’s 25th anniversary in the mobile computing business, and is best seen as an experiment that pushes the boundaries...

Toshiba makes laptops like Volvo makes cars: sturdy, well-featured, but not always inspiring. Midsize Toshiba Satellite laptops tend to blend together in terms of design, and the Satellite M645-S4055 falls into that camp. Yet, it’s also a higher-end midrange laptop that focuses on what Toshiba seems to do best: namely, offer high-quality...

In a laptop universe filled with $300 Netbooks and $600 dual-core midsize systems, an actual high-end product is rare indeed. Apple’s MacBook Pro and HP’s Envy laptops are considered high-end, but generally run between $1,000 and $1,500. In an entirely different category altogether (a different universe, even) is Sony’s Vaio Z128GX, which...

In an era where truly upscale laptops seem like an endangered species, it’s always nice to run across a well-built system with few compromises, such as the HP Envy 17. We’ve always liked the Envy line in general, and the two most-recent models, the 14-inch Envy 14 and this 17-inch Envy 17,...

The ThinkPad Edge series was introduced at the beginning of 2010, and was pitched as a sexier, more affordable midrange alternative to a venerable but staid ThinkPad line. Back then, its sole representative was a 13.3-inch model ThinkPad Edge with no optical drive and a low-voltage Core 2 Duo processor. The new...

The Sony Vaio VGN-NW270F/S is a stylish, spacious laptop for high-definition fans with low budgets. For a reasonable $699 at Best Buy, the Vaio NW270 outclasses the majority of its mainstream competition by including a Blu-ray drive. Blu-ray movies look crisp and sharp on its wide-screen 15.5-inch display, and they even sound...

Samsung is not the first name that comes to mind, at least in the U.S., when we think of laptops or Netbooks, but the company has long had a sizable presence outside of the U.S. in the PC market. Over the past year or so, a handful of Samsung models have made...